Forest continue dream season under Nuno with victory over Amorim’s United | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester United

Nottingham Forest’s fairytale season continues after Nuno Espírito Santo’s side earned a hard-fought victory over Manchester United and Rúben Amorim to strengthen their position in 3rd place in the Premier League.

Forest, who booked their place in the FA Cup semi-finals at the weekend, once again showed strong tactical organisation, resilience and efficiency to move eight points clear of Chelsea and secure a third straight league victory, as well as maintain an unbeaten home league record which stretches back to November.

The only goal of the game arrived after just 5 minutes, with Anthony Elanga scoring a typically clinical Forest counter attack. Playing against his former club, Elanga single-handedly did the damage, picking the ball up just outside his own penalty area and dribbling to the edge of the United box, before beating Andre Onana with a low finish.

United had more of the ball, recording 68% possession, but their lack of creativity and incision meant Forest were rarely opened up until a last-gasp goal-line clearance from Brazilian defender Murillo. As such, Nuno’s side kept another home clean sheet, meaning in the last three homes league games against Arsenal, Manchester City and now United, they have not conceded a goal.

“What pleased me most was the clearance of Murillo, even better than the goal from Anthony [Elanga] you can imagine how tough it was for us,” Nuno laughed after the final whistle. “We have to be honest, the game was very tough for us. It required a lot of effort. We were against the ropes.

“But we did it with the character of the players, realising we cannot be dominant but at least we help each other and do whatever we can. Everybody could see we were in trouble [after playing extra time at the weekend] with players with fatigue. But the heart was there. They gave everything and this is the spirit of the team.”

We deserved more - Amorim

For his part Rúben Amorim, who started Diogo Dalot at right wing-back and Bruno Fernandes as a no10 in the first half and a central midfielder second half, was disappointed with the result but felt his side deserved more. United often found themselves in promising positions, but struggled to carve out chances until defender Harry Maguire was thrown on in desperation as a striker, going close twice late on, including forcing Murillo’s heroics on the goal-line.

“I think when we suffered that first goal we helped the opponent play the game that they want,” Amorim told the BBC. “[They want] transitions and defending with a lot of men. We tried everything to score a goal but we didn’t score so in the end we lose three points. We cannot concede this kind of goal. Then it’s harder to win against this team

“If you look at the game, we were so near the box but we lacked a bit of quality in the final third. We have to improve. We are pushing the opponents more into their half. We are improving certain things, now we have to improve in the final third.

“It’s always frustrating when you don’t win, but especially when I think if you look at the game we deserved more than losing it. That is more frustrating than when you see the opponent is better than us. It was not the case today, so it’s really frustrating.”